Ah yes, Sonic. He's always trying to stage a big career comeback. As much as I love Sonic, to me, he died back in the Genesis days, only to be reanimated for a few good Wonderswan, GBA and DS outings before his rotting corpse was thrown around several more times for 3D outings.

It wasn't that all of the 3D outings were bad so much as they were very un-Sonic. Its cool to try new things and I can get behind that, but too often they moved Sonic away from what fans loved him for - speed.

Instead, Sonic started trying to be Mario.

Mario is a mascot known for many things, he's subject to redefinition all the time. He never really had a definition. He started life as Jumpman, a guy saving a damsel in distress from that naughty ape, Donkey Kong. Then, he had his adventures in Mario Bros. Mario became a referee for boxing and tennis matches, discovered and saved the Mushroom Kingdom many times, studied medicine, mastered turn-based RPG combat and taught it a thing or two. He took up all manner of sports, to boot.

And the people loved him for it.

Sonic has tried all of these things and never became better for it. Nintendo made Mario something that could be reinvented. Sega has not succeeded in this with The Blue Blur..Sonic has spent so much time trying to one-up Mario that he's lost touch with gamers and what he meant to them.



And then there's the rise of a new everyman, another re2inventable mascot.

The Sackboy cometh.



I have to admit, he's got a certain charm for someone so faceless. He has no definition. He can be anyone and depending upon how good you are at level design, he can have a lot of different adventures. And he's so cool that everyone, even grumpy old Kratos, wants to be a Sackboy.

Even Sonic, but that's part of Sonic's problem.

See, characters like Chun Li, Kratos and Solid Snake don't really need Sackboy's help, its just cool to be near him. They can go have their own games and still be respected. Sonic, poor Sonic, just rolled up to bask in Sackboy's glory hoping it would get him some attention. Sonic wants us to remember he's still here, dammit. He wants to relive his glory days.

And that's why he has to chum around with Mario, too, be it in the Olympic games or Nintendo-themed brawlers. He's really just hanging out to get his name out there, he knows Mario does not need him.

See, that's what makes Sackboy a threat - his game can be expanded, he doesn't need cheap gags like episodic content, nor did he really need Sonic. He just placated Sonic. Mario doesn't need Sonic simply because he has the mindshare of the gaming world behind him, which will keep him safe for a while.

Oh sure, Little Big Planet has content to buy, costumes and new things to add to its levels, but LBP isn't aspiring to have sequels to itself on the platforms it appears on. LBP, not unlike Rock Band, has a model capable of being expanded or added to.

But that is the answer to Sonic's woes, if you ask me. Not to be Sackboy, but to have a content-driven community behind him like Sackboy does. It would be so easy to do. It is, in fact, sitting right under Sega's nose. That's what make this "episodic content" nonsense so damn frustrating.

Have a look:

Play Sega Level Creators

Mad yet?

The Sonic the Hedgehog Level Creator. This is a thing that exists, except is its not on consoles and there is not level sharing community for it. There's also a subscription fee to play with it. But how awesome would it be if this was packaged with Sonic the Hedgehog 4?

Totally awesome, you cannot deny it. Image your own Emerald Coast or Pinball zones.



I would sure as hell be able to put up with the episodic concept if there was user-generated content side to this. But Sega being Sega, they aren't doing both. These are separate products.

Even if the best levels had to be isolated in the different platform communities, Sega could eventually collect the best of them and release them to the other communities to enjoy.

Sega did something similar before with Chu Chu Rocket. When the Dreamcast server for that finally went down, they salvaged the best of the user-generated content from Chu Chu Rocket and added it to the GBA version that came a little while later. And that version had a level editor, too, so friends could share levels and still have more fun.

Nintendo is now dabbling in this sort of thing, too: Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, Flipnote Studio and Excitebike World Rally all have these kinds of features. These were features MvDK and Excitebike always had, just not on an online level. And PC gaming has always enjoyed this sort of thing.

Nintendo is not ignoring the potential of LBP or ModNation Racers - this DSi/WiiWare stuff is just testing the waters. Oh, the next couple of Mario platformers might be able to get by without user generated content - Mario just has that level of mindshare - but even now he's cutting his teeth on it.

Sega needs to swallow some pride and roll Project Needlemouse with this level editor project rather than keep them separate entities. People would want to share this kind of content, not just create it for their own personal enjoyment or on a subscriber level.

As for Sega "listening to feedback" for Sonic 4 before making new episodes, c'mon, this is Sega we're talking about! Sega has had over ten years to bring Sonic back to glory, if they listened to feedback, we'd have seen a return to form a lot sooner.

Need I remind you of Phantasy Star Online or Phantasy Star Universe? These are two games where it took Sega several years to address their issues, games that people paid subscription fees for, at that. And those issues only ever got addressed in the form of a new PSO/PSU game on a totally different platform. It happened every time

Sonic and Phantasy Star have had a similar fall from grace and because of that, I feel that when they do finally rise to the occasion once more, no one will care. Instead new franchises take their place. And all because Sega doesn't listen.

Sonic just needs to be himself, to be fast. Give players what we want - the speed and the levels we can create to put Sonic to the test. Let us share those levels with others. To redeem Sonic to gamers, Sega needs to do more than nickel-and-dime out 7 levels at a time, they need to get on-board with the user-generated content trend

Sonic may never be another Mario, but he doesn't need to be.

I mean, if Sega can't make a better Sonic game, then let someone who can. If things like LBP and Flipnote Studio are any indication, then we've got some great minds just waiting to share the ultimate Sonic levels with the rest of the gaming community.

And if you're too lazy to make the content yourself, you still benefit because other people will.

So give us a level editor, add new level-building content with each new "episode" as an incentive to get it rather than just seven more levels before I have to wait months for a completed game. If you are going to string us along, make it worth our while.

It would be the ulitmate form of feedback, too. We wouldn't just be telling Sega what we want Sonic to be about, we'd be showing them. I honestly feel that with such an approach, they would have the foundation to make some really great 3D games rather than making these Mario-like attempts at reinventing the character.